Any Info on Used New Braunfels Smoker

[mydogsowner]

I have the chance to buy this smoker for only 50.00 locally.

The seller says it's New Braunfels Model. Can anyone give me any info on it?

Thanks~

[BluDawg]

Looks like a good 'un for 50 bucks"SCORE" not sure of the year but NB was Bought out by Charbroil if it ifs one of the early ones it should have thicker steel then what they are selling now. If this is your first stick burner a word of advice after a cook and things have cooled down clean all the ash out of your Fire box it will last a whole lot longer. Wood ash contains LYE and when it absorbs moisture becomes Highly Corrosive and will rust the fire box out in no time flat. That one looks fairly stock and there are some Mods you can do to really increase the efficiency like; extending the stack on the inside to bring it down to grate level and Adding a baffle at the fire box to move the heat closer to the center of the pit to eliminate the hot spot close to the fire box. good luck and I hope you show us what you can do with it always like seeing pix of great BBQ.

[mydogsowner]

Thanks BluDawg for the help and the tips. I have a lot to learn.

This is exactly what I was looking for, something that would be decent to learn and cook on, without breaking the bank. I Googled for info and saw that this was called the Black Diamond Smoker, I believe.

I am picking it up Tues, and am very excited about it.

I didn't know that about the ash, gosh, I am SO green. I hope I don't hurt my new baby by mistake in any way.

I need to find "Smoking Meat for Dummies" or something.

Lisa :}

[BluDawg]

Lisa we all started out as novices the wealth of info here on this board is better than you can find in any book. With a book you only get the authors point of view sort of like wearing blinders. When you come here you get more than one point of view empowering you to choose what will work for you.Once you get a few cooks under your belt it will all come together and you will be an accomplished BBQ chef in your on right. if you don't know ask.

[n2dabluebbq]

that smoker is definitely a pre-charbroil one. most likely from the early to mid nineties. make a charcoal basket for it because if you run straight wood, it'll eat you out of house and home faster that twin teenage boys. hahaha.
mine is very similar. i will post some pics up after all this crappy snowing and blowing stop(read tuesday).

[magnus392]

I have almost the exact same model, can you folks direct me to to more info on the mods you speak of?

[bigdaddydanbbq]

I've enjoyed a lot of delicious Q from that exact same smoker for 8 years with no mods at all. With a chimney charcoal starter and some good wood you will be happy with your modest investment. Good luck and gitter-done!

[mydogsowner]

Here's a link to some of the mods mentioned. http://www.bbqinstitute.com/SmokerModifications.pdf

I am thinking I will lower the stack to the grill, and 'prolly get Horizon's convection plate and make a baffle too. We'll see. I will try a few cooks first without to learn and test it as it is.

I am planning on making a charcoal basket as I am thinking it will go through a lot more wood/lump charcoal than I am used to now. My very small smoker has spoiled me that way.

Even still, should I plan on getting another mortgage to buy wood??? Is this smoker a real pig that way?

I get it tomorrow. I hope the rain stops here for a day.

[DATsBBQ]

Here's a link to some of the mods mentioned. http://www.bbqinstitute.com/SmokerModifications.pdf

I am thinking I will lower the stack to the grill, and 'prolly get Horizon's convection plate and make a baffle too. We'll see. I will try a few cooks first without to learn and test it as it is.

I am planning on making a charcoal basket as I am thinking it will go through a lot more wood/lump charcoal than I am used to now. My very small smoker has spoiled me that way.

Even still, should I plan on getting another mortgage to buy wood??? Is this smoker a real pig that way?

I get it tomorrow. I hope the rain stops here for a day.

Yeppers, they like the fuel. I used Bowie to smoke up 3 butts a few days ago. Went through an 8# (10#?) bag of Kingfords Comp briquettes within 4 hours. Luckily I had 40# of Mesquite lump in the trunk of the car. Good size chunks. Went through about 15# of that to get through the cook. I was fighting cold weather -temps in the thirties all day with snow flurries. I discovered that when I put a beach towel on top of the chamber I picked up 10°. I thinking now I might want to insulate the body but don't want to put more $$$ into it until I can figure away to keep the bears away.

[BluDawg]

Here's a link to some of the mods mentioned. http://www.bbqinstitute.com/SmokerModifications.pdf

I am thinking I will lower the stack to the grill, and 'prolly get Horizon's convection plate and make a baffle too. We'll see. I will try a few cooks first without to learn and test it as it is.

I am planning on making a charcoal basket as I am thinking it will go through a lot more wood/lump charcoal than I am used to now. My very small smoker has spoiled me that way.

Even still, should I plan on getting another mortgage to buy wood??? Is this smoker a real pig that way?

I get it tomorrow. I hope the rain stops here for a day.

Yeppers, they like the fuel. I used Bowie to smoke up 3 butts a few days ago. Went through an 8# (10#?) bag of Kingfords Comp briquettes within 4 hours. Luckily I had 40# of Mesquite lump in the trunk of the car. Good size chunks. Went through about 15# of that to get through the cook. I was fighting cold weather -temps in the thirties all day with snow flurries. I discovered that when I put a beach towel on top of the chamber I picked up 10°. I thinking now I might want to insulate the body but don't want to put more $$$ into it until I can figure away to keep the bears away.

Marlin 1894 45-70 gvt.with Barnes 300 gr solid copper pills

[E Town]

Lisa we all started out as novices the wealth of info here on this board is better than you can find in any book. With a book you only get the authors point of view sort of like wearing blinders. When you come here you get more than one point of view empowering you to choose what will work for you.Once you get a few cooks under your belt it will all come together and you will be an accomplished BBQ chef in your on right. if you don't know ask.

Well said BluDawg

[mydogsowner]

BluDawg: When you mentioned bears before, I thought you were just kiddin'. YIKES. What kind of bears have you got around you????

I'm wondering how something like this would work? http://www.amazon.com/HEAT-SOUND-Shield-INSULATION-BLANKET/dp/B001AX84AY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=industrial&qid=1304473890&sr=8-1

So, I got my new used smoker today. It has more rust than the photos showed. I also didn't notice that the vent was seized up with rust until I got home. It def needs some TLC. I stopped at Home Depot and picked up a cover and a few wire brushes.

I'm going to smoke a few half picnic roasts tomorrow. One for me and one for my friend that helped me transport the smoker home today. So, I'm going to give the new smoker a going over while I'm cooking. I'd like to restore it as much as is reasonable to do so. I'm sure this has already been discussed in this forum, so I will do a search on it.

I still feel like I got a heck of a deal today on it all said.

[DATsBBQ]

Don't know what kind of bears Blue Dawg has but here is one I took a picture of from the deck of the house in Oct 09.

Bear5Oct09.jpg

What bears do

bearForum.jpg

The tree-huggers in town would have me arrested if I were to discharge a firearm inside town limits.

[mydogsowner]

OMG, that's too scary.

Even still, I can't resist asking, "Is that Smokey the Bear?"

[mydogsowner]

Ok, seriously, it looks like a brown bear to me, but I am no expert for sure.

I almost ran into one while looking for river access to fish once here. I spotted a cub and then saw mama's footprints, so we hightailed it out of there fast.

They are not commonly found where we saw it in Missouri, so we reported the sighting to the Dept of Conservation here.